This post includes a brief plot summary and a review of the 2024 Chinese drama “Best Choice Ever”. Beware of mild spoilers.
Note: The story of “Best Choice Ever” is an adaptation of a 90s novel named “Stories of Mai Cheng Huan” by Yi Shu.
“Best Choice Ever” is a family drama directed by Chen Chang, starring Yang Zi as Mai Cheng Huan, Xu Kai as Yao Zhi Ming and the veteran actress, He Saifei, as Liu Wan Yu.
Genre: family, drama
When I clicked on the “watch button” for “Best Choice Ever”, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. As usual, just like you are doing here, I went “snooping” around to see what other viewers were saying about the Chinese drama.
To my surprise, as I’m writing this review, there are a lot of negative comments about the show. But I thought to myself, how bad can a drama that stars Yang Zi and Xu Kai be? And I’m glad I gave this unfavored drama a shot.
Short Review: “Best Choice Ever” is a solid family drama. However, it’s not a “pretty” drama to watch because it doesn’t sugar-coat life. The complex family dynamics between the mother and the daughter are well-written and beautifully executed on the screen. Yang Zi shines in the role of “Mai Cheng Huan”, showing her maturing in acting.
“Best Choice Ever” tells the story of a young woman on her quest for independence.
Mai Cheng Huan is our “girl”. She is a Shanghai native who is currently working at a prestigious hotel. Cheng Huan is well respected by her co-workers except for those who see her as “competition”.
Due to a co-worker’s mistake, our protagonist is almost fired by Yao Zhi Ming, her new boss. But she slowly earns the trust (and later, heart) of Zhi Ming with her exceptional work ethic and resilience. But before moving to the romance part, Mai Cheng Huan needs to break up with her loser boyfriend, Xin Jia Liang, who comes from an affluent family but is spineless.
As the story unravels, we learn more about Cheng Huan and Zhi Ming’s personal struggles. The girl has a helicopter/tiger mother, actually a quite complex character, who is obsessed with monitoring her daughter’s every step in life, from who she dates to her career choices.
Zhi Ming, on the other hand, is on his own quest for more power in the corporate world, within his organization. While Cheng Huan’s father is almost an NPC, in the sense that he is just there but doesn’t add much value, Zhi Ming’s father is quite a handful. He is a gambling troublemaker who is about to be released from prison.
These two, Cheng Huan and Zhi Ming, are sort of family related. Chen Huan’s step-grandmother is Zhi Ming’s paternal grandmother. While Chen Huan is completely oblivious about her grandmother’s wealthy background, Zhi Ming wants the latter’s help for his latest project.
As you might imagine, these two eventually get together and help each other during their darkest hours.
“Best Choice Ever” is centred around themes that are very typical in an Asian household but might sound very foreign to a Western audience.
As I see it, “Best Choice Ever” is more a family or a life drama than a romance drama, which might explain why the show’s rating is kind of low on popular C-drama platforms like “MyDramaList”. Maybe certain viewers were expecting a swoony affair between Cheng Huan and Zhi Ming and were “hit” with something completely different.
The show is very heavy on topics like “filial piety” and “traditional roles”. Personally, as a foreign viewer, I feel very “icky” about the terms mentioned before. It’s not because I don’t feel that they are not important, but I often have the impression that many Chinese parents use them almost as a weapon to keep their children “hostage”. And that is not good.
The drama “Best Choice Ever” uses its protagonist to portray the cultural pressures surrounding women in China.
So, we already touched upon the topic of “filial piety”. In Chinese culture, the latter term basically means that children should be obedient and supportive of their parents (financially and emotionally). Now, it’s time to talk about marriage and societal expectations.
Back in the day, women were supposed to marry early, have children and be good wives. Meanwhile, China itself has changed from a closed country with a poor economy to the titan that it is today.
So the world has changed, but many Chinese parents refuse to let go of the old values and try to “force” those values upon their children to this day. Needless to say, that raises conflicts between the older and younger generations. That is exactly what happens to our girl, Mai Cheng Huan.
Our protagonist is a modern lady living in a modern world, but at the same time her freedom is constrained by her own mother, Liu Wan Yu. And that makes things very difficult for Cheng Huan. Her desire to “please” her parents, especially her mother, is what is making her life so difficult. There is a constant trade-off between personal happiness, freedom and familial obligations.
In the drama, Mai Cheng Huan’s mother personifies those “old society” values. She sees marriage as a tool for financial stability and social upward mobility, not necessarily as a union built on love. Many younger viewers might find this appalling, but parents like Liu Wan Yu are more common than you think.
There were times when I “hated” Liu Wan Yu. I felt that she didn’t have her daughter’s best interest when she was trying to set her up with Xin Jia Liang, the spineless rich fella. The Liang family has always treated Cheng Huan poorly, and yet the mother is still eager to “offer” her daughter to them. I guess some people forget their dignity when they meet rich folks…
Mai Cheng Huan’s mother is the perfect example of how generational trauma is often silently passed down.
Liu Wan Yu isn’t just controlling because she wants to be difficult; her rigidity is symptomatic of her own upbringing and anxieties. You sense that she is haunted by her own past. This woman had a rough childhood; she too was a victim of society’s misogyny coming from the most unsuspected person, her father.
Not only that, but Liu Wan Yu never “made it” in the big city. When she was younger, she had big dreams. But as time passed by, those slowly faded away, leaving her nothing but bitterness and financial distress. This might explain why she is so demanding of her daughter. In her head, Mai Cheng Huan needs to succeed so she can live vicariously through her daughter’s achievements.
Fortunately, Mai Cheng Huan doesn’t follow her mother’s advice nor her footsteps and fights hard for her “freedom”. Although she is written as a typical “goody-two-shoes”, our girl does fight against the “system” to get her sense of agency back.
As a viewer, I was moved and inspired by Mai Cheng Huan’s resilience. Her personal journey shows that empowerment isn’t always “loud”. Sometimes, not letting go of our dreams despite harsh circumstances is something that shows immense strength.
The mother-daughter dynamics in the show were portrayed beautifully by Yang Zi and He Saifei.
Looking at these two characters, Mai Cheng Huan and Liu Wan Yu, it is hard to put them in a “box”.
Before watching the show I read a lot of comments about the “overbearing mother” character that made a lot of viewers not want to watch or continue to watch the show. I, on the other hand, was a bit bothered by Mai Cheng Huan. Before finishing the show, I thought she was too kind, too perfect of a character. But the reality is a bit more complex than that.
Let’s start with the mother, Liu Wan Yu. She is actually quite a tragic character. This woman had to endure hardship throughout her life. Wan Yu’s toxic need for control actually stems from her own insecurities. She never succeeded in life, so she wants her Cheng Huan to do it for her. And that, of course, puts an extreme amount of pressure on the daughter.
Even though I sympathize with Liu Wan Yu’s motivations, I find her actions are reprimandable. This woman was willing to “force” her daughter to marry a spineless man with a horrible family, just because he is rich? That is outrageous, to say the least.
Now, let’s talk about the daughter, Mai Cheng Huan. As I mentioned before, in the beginning, I thought the character was too nice. As if her kindness was the “kryptonite” that put her in that position. But I think I was wrong.
Mai Cheng Huan’s kindness and righteousness do not make her “weak”. However, she needs to stand up for herself more, which she does later in the show. Her breaking point was definitely the moment she refused to follow her mother’s advice to marry Xin Jia Liang. Mai Cheng Huan’s growth in the story starts when she slowly breaks from her mother’s psychological control and becomes her own self.
Yang Zi’s performance as Mai Cheng Huan is the highlight of “Best Choice Ever”.
If I had to give someone a reason to watch “Best Choice Ever”, I would say: Yang Zi’s performance.
I’ve watched a few bits of Yang Zi’s acting before but wasn’t impressed. Watching her in “Best Choice Ever” made me change my opinion about her. This woman can act.
Mai Cheng Huan is actually a difficult character to portray. If you make her too nice, viewers can be easily bored with such a unidimensional character. I think what made Yang Zi’s performance stand out is that she made Cheng Huan real and relatable. Yes, she is a “good girl”, but she too has her own dreams and thoughts and is willing to stand up for herself.
Another standout performance was definitely He Saifei as the mother. The actress was able to perfectly embody Liu Wan Yu’s controlling and sometimes manipulating nature, without forgetting her pitiable facet.
Note: In my opinion, Xu Kai is an actor with tremendous potential. However, these Chinese drama producers keep wasting his talent by casting him in these cliché domineering CEO roles. Such a shame. In this drama, he doesn’t even feel like a main character, more like Yang Zi’s sidekick.
Final Thoughts
Overall, “Best Choice Ever” is a well-executed family drama. If you were looking for a good romance, forget about it; this drama is not for you.
The pacing is good in the beginning, but it drags a bit towards the end. Personally, I found Liu Wan Yu’s illness storyline a bit unnecessary, because it doesn’t add much to the story. Just when, as a viewer, I thought she was making progress, she fell back to her old stubborn and unreasonable ways. I know, the mother thought she was doing the right thing, as she always does, but it completely backfired.
Despite these minor critiques, I wouldn’t dismiss the show. Within the idol drama landscape, “Best Choice Ever” might be a bit too mature for its target audience, usually young folks. Nevertheless, I actually quite enjoyed watching the drama.
This might be a bold statement, but I think Yang Zi and He Saifei carried the show, and Xu Kai just tagged along. Having said that, “Best Choice Ever” is not flawless, but it’s a noteworthy watch.
Final Rating: 🍎 (Good)
